STEM

With state legislatures back in session this spring, we could fill a month of Required Readings. Here are a few highlights (or downlights, as the case may be): The governor of South Dakota has vetoed legislation that would have required transgender students in public schools to use bathrooms, locker rooms, and other …

Publisher BioMed Central has retracted 43 papers because of problematic or fraudulent peer reviews. On a broader scale, how can the article submission and review processes be improved? Journal paywalls and lip-syncing to the academic conversation. Why America’s obsession with STEM education is dangerous (I must have missed the U.S. obsession with …

*Ha! Not the snake! This whole post is about computer programming. This past weekend I went to PyOhio the Python programming language conference held in Columbus, Ohio. The conference serves the needs of both beginner and experienced programmers. So there were an array of different types of talks from introductory (“Hello …

We have a new journal club in our department where we cover lots of papers on topics about science and science education. We’re a pretty diverse group, and so I’m always learning and enjoying the discussions. Recently, we covered a paper called “Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students” …

I hope all of our Required Reading readers in the United States enjoyed their holiday weekend, if they had one. (My state institution considers Good Friday worthy of a paid holiday but not Memorial Day, apparently because the latter is considered a Yankee holiday in our neck of the woods. …

Here’s some of the latest: A new kind of mudpie? Some countries are moving coding way up in the curriculum. How would you address a stressed-out, crying student laying on the floor ? If “taser” is your first choice you may have a career waiting for you in Syracuse. Janet …

Background Newton’s Third Law states that for every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force. In other words when I walk and I push on the floor with 650 N of force (~145 lbs) the floor pushes back on me with the same 650 N of force. …

Everywhere in Skepticland, people are talking about the new Cosmos series. President Obama introduced the first episode with comments on STEM education. Standardized testing and its usage in schools at all levels is always a topic of interest. In the news this week: the revamped SAT, one parent’s story of …

Religion! Women! Minorities! Universal Childcare! Other hot-button topics! All in today’s required readings. People home-schooled by religious parents are starting to fight back. The New York Times weighs in on solutions to bringing more women and minorities into STEM. Childcare is key to a healthy economy and society, say UK …

Good morning, everyone! Here are some articles to start off your Tuesday: -Pennsylvania’s universities shed programs and staff as they feel the pain of budget cuts. -A study of those who received a Ph.D. in history shows that large numbers of them work as adjuncts and off the tenure track …